Leaderboard

Hopefully the final entry in this thread! Early this morning I went through the following steps. Disconnect and remove the left front brake caliper Confirmed brake fluid flow back through the lines to the warning switch by disconnecting each connection. On the bench, I removed the brake pads from the caliper, put a board between the pistons, and used compressed air to push the pistons out a bit and confirm the they could move freely. Reassembled and reinstalled the left front caliper and hooked up the lines Bled the master cylinder Bled the right front caliper Bled the left front caliper And now the brakes work! I'm guessing the compressed air on the caliper pistons was the likely thing that changed course since that's the only step I hadn't done in the past. I was able to do some driving this morning and now I need to work on the idle. The carbs were rebuilt by Z Therapy and I need to spend some time balancing, etc. Thanks to all for the suggestions and help.

So Ive roughed out the rear end of the car I hope to spray some high build on it tomorrow

This might be it? Enjoy your Holiday. Just a few more days for me. https://forums.hybridz.org/topic/95316-braaps-l6-efi-induction-advice-and-tips/ "The OE EFI will NOT tolerate larger than stock cams, (large enough to make any difference one would spend money and time to swap out), and there is no “reasonable” way around it. If you desire a cam for EFI L28, do yourself a favor and steup to aftermarket Engine management which will allow you to tune around the new VE curve the cam delivers and also delete the AFM from the air stream. The stock Z car EFI isn’t tunable enough to compensate for an altered VE curve. I’m sure someone could hack the resistors and caps in the ECU, but with Mega Squirt being so inexpensive and readily accessible now… The OE EFI will barely tolerate extreme exhaust mods and minor head work, (those two items with the stock cam and stock EFI intake manifold don’t alter the VE curve too much and what they do alter we are able to compensate for with a variety of methods). The OE EFI will not tolerate freer flowing intake manifolds. Both of those alter the VE curve drastically enough that there is no reasonable way to keep the part throttle cruise AND WOT in balance. You will have to sacrifice one for the other and at that, if you spend too much driving around in the compromised region of the tune, the tune could be far enough out to actually foul plugs, which means that when get back into region that is correct for the engine, it wont run right due to fouled spark plugs. In summation, if you have the stock EFI, keep the stock cam and stock intake manifold. If you desire an intake manifold and/or cam change be sure you also have an alternative engine management system that allows the end user to tune and make use of what the cam and intake manifold brings to the table in performance gains."

My limited experience with new rings in an old bore was years ago. I cleaned the cylinders (that still had light cross hatching), used the original pistons with new moly rings. That combination worked well for another 20+ years as a daily driver. I'd do it again.

Excellent!! I love the video. And the editing. I know you probably didn't intend it to come off this way, but I see: "Happy guy pulls his Z out of the garage all nice and gentle like. Drives like Grandma down to the end of his street. Once out of sight of his house (and the camera), he gives the car a proper high RPM thrashing! After enjoying the crap out of himself, he pulls back down his street slowly and carefully just like Grandma, thinking nobody's the wiser." That's what I get. LOL!! I also love the giggling at the beginning. Whoever was taking that part of the video knew you were having a great time and was very happy for you!

Find some carbs and you're good with a cut cam on these old cars. An aluminum flywheel and port match performance exhaust is the easiest thing to do for the money. I have a 10lb flywheel on mine and it's like riding a motorcycle without all the hospital, funeral bills.

For what?

BTW, I got rid of the damn Facebook redirect and posted the actual link on R&T

Alan is very knowledgeable about the history of these cars and is very passionate about it. It's nice to have that expertise on the forum

Largely cribbed - almost word for word - from posts on this forum.

You can fix 4 & 5 when you redo the interior and seats. #6, have her wear dark sunglasses. #8, a console armrest with cupholders. And 7 & 9, only offer her a ride when she is getting over a cold. The rest, you're on your own ...

Great video, we need more cow bell next time!! Congrats on getting it road worthy. It’s more work than one thinks and why some many project cars never get finished. Even after I finish my Z and make the interior look like it wasn’t parked on Venus for a decade my wife will probably never want to ride in it. 1. Too Loud 2. Too Bumpy 3. No XM radio 4. No heated seats 5. Too many rattles 6. Embarrassed to be seen by others 7. Smells funny 8. No cup holders 9. “Is that gas I smell” 10. No airbags...”Is this safe” If you watch this video below and don’t laugh then you have no soul! One of my favorite movies. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Posting this here at least in part to make sure as many people see it as possible - and keep me from buying it. I've studied the pics. Appears to be an original blue on blue car. Seems to me like those are exceedingly rare. Mostly complete. Missing 4 speed trans and air cleaner cover. Not a lot of rust. VIN HLS30 02146 $15k so far. https://www.ebay.com/itm/203698086759?hash=item2f6d5a2367:g:Gm0AAOSwwFFhkY6e

I learned to take engines apart by taking apart our lawnmower. Boy was my dad pisssed.

After nearly 30 years, she has been brought back from the dead! So much still to do but wow is it an amazing feeling to actually drive it. Brakes need another bleed, throttle sticks at around 2k rpm, it rides like a boat, but I couldn't be happier!

Heathkit has a place in my life for sure. My Dad and I built a number of kits in the late 60’s including, if you can believe it, our first color TV. Then shortly after we added the remote control option. It was an low ultra sonic transmitter. I could hear the beep tones when you push the buttons. The volume and channel knobs were powered and turned by a little teenie weenie fan belt and motor. You could see the knobs spinning from across the room! It definitely drove me to being the hands on tinkerer and eventually EE that I am proud now to be.

I use WhiteHeadPerformance for fitment info. Read their notes on each size. https://whiteheadperformance.com/product/rota-rkr-15x8-wheel-kit-4x114-3-0mm-offset-datsun-240z-260z-280z-280zx-510/ Their menu is at the bottom of the page Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

In the most recent Z that’s in getting parted, I found what must be the absolute pinnacle of ignition technology. Ok, maybe I’m thinking of 1978 , but anyway…. Anyone remember the brand name “HeathKit”?

Deal, I will PM details. Thanks

It’s all yours for the price of shipping. Including the main box if you want it.

Haha!! I learned that same trick from a neighbor kid with similar mower model. Thankfully, ours survived the brief higher RPM jaunts without the boom. We used to race against eachother in his driveway when all the parents were away.

The matchbox went over to the 260Z when the old one died. I still had a 240Z distributor in decent shape (going from the Crane to the ZX dizzy), so use what you have...

I "Learned" how to stick-weld at 12 years old.. my dad was pissed to.. Hahaha.. took not a lot of time and he had a tandem and no bike Hahahaha!! 😂 (Oh well he never used those old bikes anyway!)

The pic i put above is of a 280zx block with only 74k Miles (120kkm) so your cylinders should be even better than mine. (My car had oil stickers (MOBIL1 ) even in the door so i think... that it had good maintenance.. the PO was a garage and a RDW guy.. something like someone that worked professionally with cars and knows alot of the subject.) R.D.W. rijks dienst wegverkeer.. Sort of a very technical Dutch DMV? they do APK (= like a MOT.) Also they decide what cars and other mobile stuf is road legal.

Yeah, I got that too. Kind of doctor Jekyll and mr Hide theme. Sorry officer, I just lost control for a minute. Not the car, just lost control of myself.

I found out the hard way that lawnmowers run faster without the governor, but that the increased speed comes with a price. BOOM! 🙄

@Terrapin Z

Maybe I saved the apparently important parts after all!!

Thank you!! I’ll be sure to do more videos when everything is sorted. I can’t wait to hear it a couple thousand rpm higher 😈

Hahaha you nailed it!!! Got back and showed her my video and she asks “How fast did you go?! Sounded like you’re speeding!!” Luckily the Speedo was not plugged in so I said “not sure 😉”

Remind me next time we're together. I had an honest to goodnes real live "this one goes to 11" moment at a Zcon. I think it was Atlanta at the people's choice show. Remind me and I'll tell you about it.

Spark plugs on the Z engines are about the easiest you'll find anywhere to remove and inspect. If they're dry you'll know more, if they're wet you'll know more. Why wait?

p.s. if I recall right it's a 74 260Z with carbs. So many electrical problems it's hard to keep track... Pull a spark plug and check for wetness. With carbs, when you smell fuel it usually means that flooding/fouling has occurred. Might be because you didn't have spark, maybe. But even if you solve the spark problem, if it exists, flooding will still stop it from starting.

Place the end of the spark plug wire near one of the studs at the shock tower. Watch the video I made about a year ago. It turned out there was a lot of wobble in the shaft, causing poor sparking. You expect a larger voltage drop during starting because the draw of the starter drops the voltage. For reference, on a good sized CAT generator with a 24VDC starting system, you can see the voltage dropping down to about 8 volts on starting. Of course that's an extreme example because the CAT 3516 is a 69 Liter diesel engine, so the starter is fighting against a lot of compression. However, the principle is the same.

Cliff, I can't attest to @jonbill's setup, but for many of these lifts, there are rubber or high density foam blocks that are used. You can see them in this picture. Mine also came with adapters with arms for trucks.

Yeah, jonbill, yours looks like my QuickJack except that your two sides are linked whereas a QuickJack is two independently moveable sides so there's nothing on the ground between the two sides and i can move around freely. But yours lifts a lot higher. My QuickJack will only go 18 inches or so unless I use extra cribbing - and I do sometimes.

Im 100% with dutchzcarguy. It looks a lot like reflection and hone cross hatch and that is a good sign. If you can't see any vertical scores in the bores, it shouls be ok. Nissan had a good reputation with the iron they used in the blocks.

Hi Jerry. Just a thought. If originality is important, my car’s riser tube is original. the outside is some kind of fabric and is very close to “sailcloth white”, a paint I used to refresh mine. See pictures below. btw, good to see you back! Dan

Assembled several Heathkit and Dynaco amps, preamps and tuners for myself and friends as a teen. I still have some of the Dynaco stuff. Did not know Heathkit was into automotive ignition though!